But all the girl doesn’t matter because there will be only one main heroine and this is what the show take advantage of to become somehow unique? It did a successful job of showing the audience that it is different from other Isekai harems or general harem at the time. By simply adding Megumin Katou, an ordinary girl existing to make other female archetypes looks too alienating to watch. Sadly it felt short live as we further explore the show the magic disappeared.
Usually, when I start my main review body, I go first talking about the show's main story premise and core themes. But I decided for this review I will try to pinpoint the very obvious thing that kind of baffles me when I start watching it.
Fetish Fuel Camera Angels
This show cut transition is pretty pervy since it zooms on girls' lower bodies or skirts most of the time when changing scene sequences. OP already hinted me that. This is the reason why the show has an ecchi tag even though it lacks the traditional aspect of an ecchi anime.
Character Design and Overall Theme of the Art Style
Drives to the factor of very cute and a little mince of sexy naughtiness to it. This might as well be the only thing that stands out when it comes to the visuals. There isn’t any interesting motion movement but it is alright because it doesn’t need to be flashy. There is however some change of visual colors to portray certain emotions but there aren’t that many. Also, some small tidbits show used a mix of real-world photos of objects on otaku merchandise like anime figurines and to some extend anime posters to create a realistic atmosphere of otaku culture.
When it comes to other visuals, the majority are bland and uninspired in my opinion. But even all that said I think it's above average at best. There could be some good cinematic that can be taken advantage of, but a lot of it is used for ecchi purposes.
Moving to characters. I would like to highlight Megumi Kato being critical for the show to actually work. Without her, personally, the show would be another extremely forgettable dry-out otaku harem out there and this show might get 4/10 instead of a generous 6/10 for me.
Let’s dissect Kato’s role and impact on the show.
1.) She is Very Kind and Understanding. The way She can tolerate Tomoya’s chuuni thoughts that can be very disrespectful to other people. Describes what kind of person she is.
2.) She is cute for being simple and down to earth. She doesn’t feel like a force archetype. You like her from the actions and behavior she gives towards other characters. Which is a plus in my book.
3.) Her interaction with Tomoya might as well be the most interesting and realistically funny to watch. Since I have a first-hand experience where an ordinary friend of mine who doesn’t have much knowledge on anime, manga, book,s or gaming tries to understand the culture. And I feel like explaining rocket sciences in front of him.
4.) She pretty much presents how an ordinary individual will react to niche culture. Providing subtle criticism on the otaku culture and exploitation of its stupidity in a very chill but not offensive way.
5.) She is mostly involved in the majority of the best slice life moment of the show.
6.) Kato's appeal might be is that she is an open canvas that is free to be painted by the painter. She is open to trying out new things and will give an effort to do so. To me, as a simple guy, if a girl took an interest to take the time to explore my hobbies, I would be happy too.
7.) But She Isn’t perfect. There is some moment on the show that makes me question how much of a saint She is. It sorts of destroys the realism of Her character. Best Example. Kato staying all night at a guy’s house. Either her parents are super chill about it or the anime just don’t care. It’s a minor detail but this is also a reason why I am convinced that I am watching a light fictional anime aimed at a young audience. And not seriously heavy mature one for people who thinks. And that’s my fault.
Base on all the details above. The title didn’t lie. It's basically all above Megumi Kato all along. But what about the supporting cast? This is when I started to sound a little bit harsh. But please take my word with a grain of salt on how I describe the supporting cast and the remaining element of the show.
The Other Heroines are Meh
Eriri and Utaha, your basic archetypical dere characters, I look up their names in MAL at the time of writing this review because I don’t clearly remember their names at all. The interactions they made are boring to watch, forgettable, and uninteresting. I know the show highlights them as main characters but to me, they are more as filler girl bait to confuse the main protagonist's feelings and extend the story. Like most harem shows. But they still serve a straight-out technical purpose on the show narrative. Their main purpose is to make creating a complex video game somehow possible. Surely a protagonist that has no technical expertise will not be able to make a game let alone hire people for the job.
So the cheapest alternative in making a game is taking advantage of people who secretly liked you and making full use of their skill sets. For the labor cost lower than any 3rd World Minimum Wage Jobs. In a job profession where the expertise demands high pay.
There is also a time when they introduce another guy in the show, they made him appear an unlikable douchebag indicating an antagonist exists but a few episodes later. He literally doesn’t do anything. Killing his purpose. You can cut him out of the show and no significant changes will take place.
I would like to talk about what I like about Michiru Hyoudou but I realize I would be just repeating what I talk about Kato before. I see her more on the ecchi side and she kinda came out late in the show. So, I wouldn’t bother to avoid major spoilers.
Characters do get fleshed out but barely any of them develops. Characters get highlighted but it feels like fan service instead of establishing them as humane characters. Because their motivation and backstory are seemingly shallow and feel like episode filler.
Painfully enough in the later episode, Kato becomes a shadow that made it the worst experience for me since the show did shift focus to the archetypical characters that I barely have any intrigue whatsoever.
Conclusion
Overall it's not a bad show. At best it's Average to Above Average for me. The reason why I considered it to be a little different from another slice of life harems is that it has a clever way to criticize and challenge the cliché of harem by introducing out-of-place normal characters to the mix. But they never dedicated to the idea and when full mediocrity in the last few episodes that kind of piss me off. My opinion is only limited to the first season. Who knows, something may change in the following sequels and my opinion might change in the future. For now, this is my overall view of the show in general. Good Idea but wasn’t executed consistently in the end.
Final Verdict
Characters Role and Development (6/10)
Kato being a normal girl what keeps me going
Plot/Story/Setting (5/10)
Nothing worth noting. Its Ok idea with meh Execution
Music/Audio Effects/ Soundtracks/OP & ED (6/10)
Cute Flowery Opening and ED Song, and some greatly timed BGM
Art Style/ Animation/ Cinematic Style/ Setting Design (7/10)
Character Design and Setting is Polish and Clean, Typical Well Budget 12-episode Anime
Personal Bias/ Enjoyment (6/10)
I still have fun watching this anime and I enjoy seeing Kato interact with Anime Characters
Overall Score (5.8/10 or 6/10) Above Average
Potentially this show can be scored high only if it dedicates to the idea it establishes. But no it revert back to a typical harem anime that made it lose its magic.
If you guys want to watch another anime with similar themes about making a game, criticizing obscure culture, and having a girl similar to Kato's personality.
I Highly Recommend Checking Out
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